Tottori · Shikano Onsen, Tottori
Shikano Onsen Hotpia Shikano
鹿野温泉 温泉館ホットピア鹿野
The communal bathhouse of Shikano, a castle town in western Tottori City laid out by the warlord Kamei Korenori. Light pours through glass-block walls into a bright bathroom with a main tub, jacuzzi, sauna, cold plunge and an open-air bath facing Mt Jūbō, all generously filled with clear, gentle simple spring water. Inexpensive at ¥550 for adults and ¥280 for children; open 10:00–22:00 and closed only on the first Thursday of the month (the following week if a holiday). There is no restaurant, but a rest area and souvenir counter, plus a roofed foot bath and the 'Omoshiro Market' soba house next door. Pair it with a stroll around the castle town's canals and paving, Shikano Castle ruins park and the Bird Theatre. About 4 minutes by car from Hamamura-Shikano-Onsen IC on the San'in Expressway, or 10 minutes by bus from JR Hamamura Station to 'Imamachi'. Handy on the way back from the Tottori dunes or Uradome coast.
- Price (adult)
- ¥550
- Hours
- 10:00–22:00 (last entry 21:30)
- Closed
- 1st Thursday (2nd if a holiday)
- Access
- About 4 min by car from Hamamura-Shikano-Onsen IC via Pref. Route 32; Hinomaru bus for Shikano from JR Hamamura Station, about 10 min to 'Imamachi' right by the stop; about 1 h by bus from JR Tottori Station
- Water type
- Simple spring
- Tattoos
- Ask ahead
- Admission
- Adults ¥550, children ¥280, with a JAF member discount. Mainly cash (confirm for cards); free valuables lockers at the front desk and ¥100 refundable lockers in the changing room. Towels sold or rented, shampoo provided, free hair dryer. Sauna, rotenburo and foot bath. No restaurant inside (a 'Shikano soba' shop is on the grounds), with a rest space and shop
- Baths
- A large public bathhouse on the water (the Mizutani river) of Shikano in Tottori city, an old castle town whose ruins and samurai-house streets remain. Its signature is an open, circular bathroom set with glass blocks, and as a municipal facility it has a rotenburo, bubble bath, sauna and foot bath. In a peaceful setting with fields and the Washu range in view, it pairs with walks around Shikano castle ruins, the samurai-house street and an old tokoroten (agar jelly) shop. 30 min by car from central Tottori
- Spring water
- Shikano Onsen, a weakly alkaline hypotonic high-temperature simple spring of the hot-water type, colourless and light. At 43–44°C it runs hot, so you get a taste of 'Tottori-style hot water'. Indicated for neuralgia, muscle and joint pain, poor circulation, fatigue, cuts and the digestive system. It is run as a public bathhouse — recirculated and chlorinated — on the assumption of daily local use
- Access & parking
- 5 min by car from Hamamura-Shikano Onsen IC on the Tottori Expressway, 30 min from central Tottori via Route 9, 40 min from Kurayoshi. 15 min by bus toward Shikano from Hamamura Station on the JR San'in Line to 'Shikano Onsen' (few services). Free parking for 100. Shikano castle ruins and the samurai-house street 10 min on foot, the Tottori Sand Dunes 40 min by car, Hamamura Onsen 15 min
- Phone
- 0857-84-2698
- Open in Google Maps
- Google Maps ↗
Essentials
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Why go
- Castle-town bathhouse; open-air bath facing Mt Jūbō
- ¥550; until 10 pm; closed once a month
- Foot bath and soba house on site
A ¥550 bathhouse in a castle town — a glass-block circular bathroom and hot water
Hottopia Shikano is a large municipal hot-spring facility on the water of Shikano in Tottori city, an old castle town where Edo-period castle ruins and samurai-house streets remain. The exterior is modern and the bathroom is an open design on a circular plan richly set with glass blocks; inside there are a rotenburo, bubble bath, sauna, plunge and a foot bath by the entrance, so generous that the ¥550 admission is hard to believe. The water is a weakly alkaline, hypotonic high-temperature simple spring, colourless and light, and at 43–44°C it is hot enough to give a real taste of Tottori's 'hot water culture' — start slowly from the feet and acclimatise in the milder tub first. Shikano is a quiet town of samurai houses, castle ruins, an old tokoroten (agar jelly) shop and sake breweries, and in front of the bathhouse stands the 'Shikano soba' shop, so eating Shikano's famous buckwheat noodles (local buckwheat) after bathing is the ritual. Closed the first Thursday (the second if the first is a holiday), it is otherwise open almost every day from 10:00 to 22:00 (last entry 21:30), late enough for evening use, and free valuables lockers at the front desk make it convenient for backpackers too. Five minutes from Hamamura-Shikano Onsen IC on the Tottori Expressway and 30 minutes from central Tottori, it combines easily with the Tottori Sand Dunes and Hamamura Onsen for a half day in western Tottori; autumn brings foliage around the castle ruins and winter brings snow. It is the everyday bath of the town, so weekday mornings are quieter than weekend afternoons.
How to take the hot water, and a walk through old Shikano
Enter from the car park (100 spaces), pay ¥550 at reception (towels sold or rented) and put valuables in the free lockers at the front desk; the changing-room lockers take a refundable ¥100. The bathroom is a circular plan enclosed by glass-block walls that let light in from above — an open design — running from the large central main tub (hot) and bubble bath to the rotenburo and plunge outside the door, with the sauna to one side. The water is hot at 43–44°C, so the recommended order is: wash thoroughly; warm up for three to five minutes in the bubble bath or the slightly cooler rotenburo; enter the main tub slowly from the feet and stay to the shoulders for one to two minutes; get out, rest, and go in again. Those with heart conditions or high blood pressure should keep mainly to the rotenburo. From the rotenburo you see rice fields and the Washu range, and at night the lighting shows through the glass blocks for a distinctive mood. The foot bath by the entrance is free and can be used in your shoes, so travellers short of time can at least soak their feet. Afterwards eat soba cut from Shikano buckwheat (mori or tempura soba) at the Shikano soba shop on the grounds, then walk ten minutes to the castle ruins, the samurai-house street with its Edo-period stone walls and water channels, the old tokoroten shop and the temples. Weekend afternoons and winter evenings are busy and weekday mornings comfortable; check the first-Thursday closure. Buses from Hamamura Station take 15 minutes but are infrequent, so without a car a taxi (about ¥2,500) or a tour from central Tottori is advisable.
Practical details and a western Tottori route
Hours are 10:00–22:00 (last entry 21:30); closed the first Thursday (the second if a holiday); adults ¥550, children ¥280 (JAF discount available), towels charged, free parking for 100. Access is 5 minutes from Hamamura-Shikano Onsen IC, 30 minutes from central Tottori, 15 minutes by bus from JR Hamamura Station. Suggested routes: (1) half a day in western Tottori — the Sand Dunes in the morning (camels and the Sand Museum), soba or crab for lunch at Hamamura or Shikano, a walk around the castle ruins and samurai-house street in the afternoon, a bath at Hottopia Shikano, back to Tottori; (2) two onsen — Hamamura Onsen, a seaside spa town 15 minutes away, and Shikano for a 'town onsen comparison'; (3) a castle-town stroll — the castle ruins (views from the honmaru site), the samurai-house street, the old tokoroten shop, Hottopia, then Shikano soba; (4) autumn — foliage at the ruins (November) and a drive through the Washu range, then the rotenburo; (5) an evening — a bath after 20:00, the soba shop (check closing time), night views in Tottori. Notes: closed the first Thursday; the water is hot (43–44°C), so take care with children and the elderly; the only eating place is the soba shop on the grounds (it closes early); buses are infrequent; bring cash; the rotenburo is beautiful in winter snow but can be slippery. With a rotenburo, sauna and foot bath for ¥550, Hottopia Shikano is a municipal onsen of outstanding value and well worth a stop when passing through western Tottori.
Before you go
- No official tattoo policy is published — ask at reception.
- Payment is usually by ticket machine in cash — bring coins.
- Last entry is 30–60 minutes before closing.
Features
Sauna & wellness
Mood & scenery
Price
Who with
Amenities
✔ Verified operating: 2026-09 Operating status and rates cross-checked against the official site and onsen guides (full source notes in Japanese on the JA page)
Prices and hours change. Check official sources before visiting.
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